


There is Another

by atamascolily



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zahn, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, No Incest, Siblings, Skywalker Family Drama, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 15:34:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17164592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atamascolily/pseuds/atamascolily
Summary: What mightReturn of the Jedilook like if George Lucas had gone ahead with his original plan for Luke's twin to be another woman instead of Leia? And what implications might this decision have for the Star Wars Legends universe?





	There is Another

**Author's Note:**

> This little AU was inspired by a conversation with A03 user Phillipe363 in the comments for my fic, [Family Matters](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14285991), in which Luke discovers that his family heritage is different from what Ben Kenobi originally claims. 
> 
> In the original drafts for _The Empire Strikes Back_ and _Return of the Jedi_ , Luke's twin sister wasn't Leia, but a new character, Nellith Skywalker. George Lucas changed it at the last minute to wrap up this last plot thread in ROTJ instead of leaving it for a sequel. 
> 
> As always, it's dangerous to get me thinking about the implications...

Sitting in the Dagobah swamp across from the spectral figure of Obi-wan Kenobi, still reeling from the death of Master Yoda, Luke was in no mood for sophistry from a ghost. Nor did he appreciate Ben's insistence that Luke must be prepared to kill Darth Vader--his own father!--if he was to survive their inevitable confrontation.

When the direct approach failed to alter Luke's resolve, Ben shifted tactics. "You were our last hope," he said with a disappointed sigh. 

"Yoda spoke of another," Luke countered, determined not to fall for such an obvious trap. He wasn't going to let Ben guilt-trip him into this Chosen One business. 

"The one he spoke of is none other than your twin sister," Ben said, playing with the hem of his robe. 

"But I have no sister," Luke said without thinking. The protestation was mostly out of habit and lacked heart; he knew even as he spoke that Ben was telling the truth. It--felt right that he had a sister, somehow. 

"To protect you from the Emperor, you were hidden from your father when you were born," Ben explained, though his statement invited far more questions than it answered. "The Emperor knew, as I did, that if Anakin had any offspring, they would be a threat to him. That is the reason your sister remains safely... anonymous." 

Luke sighed. Another revelation. Another relative. He was getting tired of this. "I hope _she_ doesn't try to kill me."

The ghost of Ben Kenobi raised one spectral eyebrow. "Set your feelings aside for now, Luke. They do you credit, but they could be made to serve the Emperor. You must stay focused on the task ahead of you if you are to succeed. There will be time for you to find Nellith afterwards." 

_Nellith. I have a sister and her name is Nellith._ He'd always wanted a sister growing up on Tatooine--that way he'd always have someone near his age to play with. He wondered where Nellith lived, and what her life was like. It couldn't be stranger than his. 

Luke set his jaw, noticed the tension, and forced himself to relax. He took a deep breath, counted to ten, let all the air out slowly. "Thanks a lot, Ben." 

Ben shrugged. Even in life, his first teacher had been immune to sarcasm and the afterlife was no different. "The future, as you know, is continually in motion and difficult to predict with any accuracy. But I would not count on her success should you fail.

"May the Force be with you," Ben continued, before Luke could open his mouth to speak, and vanished.

***

"Luke, what's wrong?" 

He turned to see Leia behind him. Moonlight streamed down on the treetop huts and walkways of their new Ewok allies. Under any other circumstances, it might have been romantic. With Vader's voice still echoing in his mind, it was anything but. 

"Leia." How could he explain who he was, _what_ he was, without driving her away? How could he confess how much he loved her--maybe not the same way Han did, but it was love all the same--since he'd stumbled across her hologram while cleaning a used astromech on his uncle's farm, and the discovery had transformed his entire life. Everything he'd become was because of her, _for_ her, even. And what was the point if he was going to die soon? 

But Leia had lost so much in this war--her planet, her people, good friends in the Rebellion. The least he could do was tell her the truth. 

"Vader is here. Now. On this moon." The words came out in a rush, too much, too fast, but he couldn't stop talking once he'd started. "I felt his presence. He's come for me. He can feel when I'm near. That's why I have to go. As long as I stay, I'm endangering the group and our mission here. I have to face him." 

"Why?" Leia whispered. So much emotion packed into a single word. 

Luke took a deep breath. There was no turning back now. "He's my father." 

Whatever she'd been expecting, this wasn't it. "Your father?" she repeated, her face wrinkling in confusion.

"Trust me, I know it sounds impossible, but it's true. Master Yoda confirmed it before he died." Bringing in the ghost of Ben Kenobi would only confuse matters, so he skipped ahead to the important bit. "Leia, if I don't return, you're the last hope for the Rebellion." 

"Oh, Luke, don't talk that way. "You have a power I-I don't understand, could never understand, and could never have--" 

"No, Leia," he corrected gently. "You have power, too. It's different from what I can do, but it's just as important. I can do many things, but I can't inspire people-- _lead_ them as you do. That is your gift. And if I don't return, you must find my sister, Nellith Skywalker. She will help you defeat Vader and the Emperor if I fail." 

"No!" At the mention of Vader and the Emperor, her calm shattered. She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her to hiss in his ear. "Luke, run away. Far away. If he can feel your presence, then leave this place. Find your sister. I wish I could go with you--" 

"No, you don't," he said, drawing away, unable to hide the smile that crept unbidden across his face. He loved her more in that moment then he ever had in his life. "You've always been strong. I know you too well for that." 

""But _why_ must you confront him alone?" Her voice was calm, but the anguish was obvious, if you knew where to look for it. "If your sister is so important, why not find her and--" 

"Because--there's no time for that. There is good in him, I've felt it. He won't turn me over to the Emperor, I can save him, turn him back to the good side." He drew in a deep breath. "I have to try." 

He bent and kissed her forehead. There was so much to say, and none of it would ever be enough. _I'm sorry_ and _I love you_ and _I promise I'll return_ piled on his tongue, but he knew better than to make a vow he couldn't keep. She would never forgive him for that. 

He understood, belatedly, what it must have been like for Han on the carbon-freezing platform on Cloud City, knowing every breath might be his last, and offering what comfort he could to Leia in those last desperate moments by making it easier for her to let go and move on. 

She knew, though. He could see it in her eyes as he pulled away, feel it in her grip as she reached out to him for one last caress. Somehow, she always knew. 

***

Contrary to Ben Kenobi's arch assumptions, Luke survived, the Emperor didn't, and Darth Vader was redeemed at last. The victory was bittersweet--Luke watched helplessly as his father died in his arms in the Death Star's shuttle bay. Anakin Skywalker's last words: "You were right. Tell your sister you were right."

Any uneasy tension between Luke and Han was settled once and for all when Leia tartly informed them that group marriage was perfectly legal institution on civilized worlds like Alderaan, and they should man up and accept that she wasn't going to chose between them. The resulting arrangement was awkward at first until they got used to it, and then Luke was surprised to realize that he'd never been happier in his life. 

Despite the Alliance victory at Endor, the war dragged on for another four years, and there was no sign of Nellith. Ben Kenobi's ghost remained remarkably tight-lipped in his rare appearances, and a frustrated Luke received no further hints or clues from the Force. Even after the liberation of Imperial Center (now Coruscant), there was far too much work for one lone Jedi Knight to justify haring off in search of a missing relative without some sort of direction. 

Then a talented new warlord marshalled the scattered Imperial forces, and the fledgling New Republic was forced to fight for its life yet again. After Luke's X-wing was damaged in a surprise ambush by a Star Destroyer, he was stranded in deep space in a crippled vessel with minimal comm equipment. 

_Leia,_ he called out into the Force, as he had done on Cloud City so long ago. _Hear me, Leia. Hear me--_

But Leia was thousands of light-years away and his oxygen levels were running low. His only hope of survival was to put himself in a Force-induced trance to slow his vitals, while Artoo broadcast a manual distress signal to any passing ships. Perhaps Leia had heard him, and was on her way now. He thought he'd felt some flicker of recognition, distant and faint, when he called out to her. And if not--

_I've had a good life, but I never found Nellith,_ he thought, right before he lost consciousness. _I would have liked the opportunity to get to know her--_

***

When he woke at last, he was surprised and pleased to find himself planetbound, sprawled on a medical cot in what appeared to be a temporary storage shelter, out of danger of imminent death. Then he spied the look on the face of the young woman sitting in a chair by his bedside and immediately re-evaluated the situation. The blaster in her lap wasn't pointed at him yet, but the icy glare suggested it would be on him in a moment if he didn't behave himself. 

"Finally awake are you?" 

He couldn't feel her in the Force. He couldn't feel _anything_. For the first time in years, he couldn't feel anything at all. Everything was so _quiet_ and empty. How--?

“Don’t like it, do you?” the woman mocked. “It’s not easy to suddenly lose everything that once made you special, is it?”

He stared at her, taking in the slender curves of her body, the long red-gold haired braided down her back, the hatred radiating in her brilliant green eyes. If he had to guess, she was about his age, though she had the gravitas and bearing of someone much older. He had never seen her before, yet _something_ about her was eerily familiar, as if he were looking into a mirror and seeing his own face reflected back in female form--

He jerked upright, every nerve on end, even as her blaster came up to point directly at his chest. For one long moment they stared at each other, then Luke slumped back against the bedframe and she relaxed enough to lower the blaster again. 

"I know you," he whispered. It was true. He didn't need the Force to know who she was. It was evident in the cant of her face and the set of her posture, the way she gritted her teeth as she sneered at him. He _knew_ it the same way that Leia knew just what to say in a Council meeting, or Han knew when to fold in sabacc. The resemblance between them was subtle, but glaringly obvious once you knew what to look for. 

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you really now? And how would I have come to the attention of the great Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight extraordinaire?" 

He met her gaze steadily. If he was wrong, he was going to look awfully foolish--but he wasn't wrong. Not about this. 

"You're Nellith Skywalker. You're my sister."

**Author's Note:**

> This is likely all I will ever write of this particular AU, yet it's interesting to consider _how much worse_ the Emperor's last command is if Mara and Luke are related, not to mention how utterly wrong Ben Kenobi is when he claims that Luke's sister remains "safely anonymous". Oh, the irony. 
> 
> (Note to L/M shippers: I'm sorry!)


End file.
